The local livestock auction is every Friday. The cattle are sold and then marked with the numbered irons to identify the animal's buyer.
I arrived in Johannesburg in the middle of the night with no real plan. My friend’s father was in town for business so I thought I would look him up. I found his hotel and soon realized that he had checked out the previous day. It was a very nice hotel. Everyone was wearing suits and cocktail dresses while I was wearing the same T-shirt and shorts for about a week at that point. Needless to say, I stuck out. Then I got very lucky, again. The guest services manager named Lindy asked me what I was doing. I thought I was in trouble or something but she ended up being very nice. I explained to her what I was doing in the lobby of her hotel and quickly made friends with her. She called a hostel and arranged for them to come pick me up (for free) and then took me into the lounge and gave me a beer (again for free). So there I was, sitting in this five-star hotel lounge with a smelly T-shirt, muddy pants from the hike and loving every minute of it. It was a big culture shock coming from Malawi, which is one of the poorest countries in the world, but I did not complain.
My ride finally came and I was sad to leave the leather couch and very trendy bar. But, it was back to reality at my hostel. When I arrived, I asked to make a phone call. The receptionist said that wasn’t possible. I then asked to use the Internet. Again, he told me that wasn’t possible. I informed him that I could pay for these services. He then said with a chuckle, “ No, you don’t understand. You really can’t. Someone has stolen the phone lines.” I thought he was joking, but he informed me that it is quite common for people to steal the phone lines because they can sell the copper wiring. The next morning, while eating breakfast, I got another reality check. I was looking through my guidebook when I heard a banging sound. I looked up and a man was using a lead pipe to dislodge a light fixture from the side of the hostel. He was successful at dislodging the fixture, pulled it off the wall, looked at me, smiled and then ran away. In a country that has 43% unemployment, crime has become a daily occurrence. This is why razor wire and metal bars are a common decoration for homes, shopping centers and practically any modern building. I thought I was in a war zone walking through some parts of Johannesburg. I left that day and headed to Pietermaritzburg to stay with Justin and Gill Platt, the aunt and uncle of a friend of mine. It was nice to relax for a couple of days. After resting, I was ready to get back on the road. I went to a small farming town called Vryburg where I arranged to work on a farm.
Vryburg is in the Kalahari thorn-veld region in the Northwest Province of South Africa. The region is often refereed to as ‘the Texas of South Africa’ due to its similar landscape with Texas. I was looking forward to living in an English speaking environment but my hopes were soon dashed when I realized Afrikaans was the spoken language in the area. The family I am staying with can speak fluent English, which is a relief. I was in Vryburg for only two days when the family left for a week. I was basically left to housesit and look after the farm while they were away. I was kept busy helping the farm workers fix wind-mills, herd cattle on horseback (it was the first time in ten years I rode a horse), mending fence and tending to other daily farming activities. It is very much a modern farm and very similar to my family farm at home.
